Miranda Lambert Serves Country Music Comfort Food on “Automatic”

Miranda Lambert has established herself as one of country’s most reliable hit-makers over the last decade, racking up four straight platinum records on her own and finding further success as part of the sassy, sharp super-group Pistol Annies. “Automatic” is the lead single from her upcoming, as-yet-untitled fifth studio album — her first piece of new solo material since 2011’s Four the Record — and it’s a powerful reminder of the skills that helped Lambert to rule country’s roost: sparky personality, a great ear for space and pace, and harmonies strong enough to strip chrome off the hubcaps on her beloved ’55 Chevy.

The song isn’t going to blow anyone’s minds in a lyrical sense — Lambert’s look back at simpler, slower days is the sort of boilerplate comfort food listeners can swallow without chewing — but when it comes to hooks, stadium-sized country-pop doesn’t get much more potent than this.

Miranda Lambert has established herself as one of country’s most reliable hit-makers over the last decade, racking up four straight platinum records on her own and finding further success as part of the sassy, sharp super-group Pistol Annies. “Automatic” is the lead single from her upcoming, as-yet-untitled fifth studio album — her first piece of new solo material since 2011’s Four the Record — and it’s a powerful reminder of the skills that helped Lambert to rule country’s roost: sparky personality, a great ear for space and pace, and harmonies strong enough to strip chrome off the hubcaps on her beloved ’55 Chevy.

The song isn’t going to blow anyone’s minds in a lyrical sense — Lambert’s look back at simpler, slower days is the sort of boilerplate comfort food listeners can swallow without chewing — but when it comes to hooks, stadium-sized country-pop doesn’t get much more potent than this.